By
Greentech Lead Team: Asia Pulp & Paper Group (APP)
partnered with the Man and Biosphere Program (MAB) Indonesia – LIPI on a major
community based water treatment project in Sumatra. The project aims to provide
clean and safe water to millions of people in Indonesia.
MAB
Indonesia – LIPI is part of the global UNESCO-led Man and Biosphere program,
designed to develop Indonesian Biosphere Reserves by promoting a balanced
inter-relationship between people and nature.
APP
has joined hands with this project as part of its broader sustainability
program that aims to positively impact the communities and regions in which it
operates.
“By
helping address the basic needs of communities, we are helping people to use
natural resources in a more sustainable way. Water is one of the world’s most
vital natural resources and it is becoming an increasingly limited commodity.
This project will help to address the ongoing clean water shortages experienced
by millions of Indonesians,” said Aida
Greenbury, managing director, Sustainability & Stakeholder Engagement, APP.
The
project, now in its pilot stage, could help create locally based water
treatment systems to address the problem of limited access to clean water
endured by communities in remote parts of Indonesia.
MAB
Indonesia – LIPI plans to develop the bio-village concept in the Giam Siak
Kecil-Bukit Batu (GSK-BB) Biosphere Reserve, in Riau province, Sumatra, where
communities are encouraged to systematically manage their natural resources in
a more sustainable, balanced manner.
A
team of scientists from MAB Indonesia and the Research Center for
Limnology-Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), will install water
purification systems among communities around the GSK-BB Biosphere Reserve. The
water purification systems will transform peat water into water that is fit for
human use.
The
project is being piloted in Tanjung Leban, an area in the GSK-BB reserve. The
units have been produced based on a design from Research Center for
Limnology-LIPI and MAB Indonesia.
The
project will also provide training for members of the local community to use
and maintain the water treatment units. Each unit can produce up to 60 liters
of potable water per minute, sufficient to provide an ongoing supply for
approximately 100 families.
Recently,
APP and seventy-six other enterprises jointly signed an
initiative put forward by the China Paper Association at the 2nd Annual
Forum on the Chinese Paper Industry’s Green Development. This initiative calls
for collective efforts to advance the industry’s sustainable development by
committing to accomplishing the energy-saving and emission-reduction targets
set by the Chinese central government in its 12th Five Year Plan
(2011-2015).